It’s common for adults in the United States to live with a romantic partner they’re not married to – what demographers call cohabitation. Around three-quarters of Americans in their late 30s or early 40s have done this at some point in their lives.
Still, there are demographic differences in these cohabitation experiences, including whether living with a romantic partner ultimately leads to marriage. For example, adults with a bachelor’s degree are more likely than those without one to ultimately marry a cohabiting partner.
More about this data
The NLSY97 is a nationally representative panel study of Americans born between 1980 and 1984. The study began in 1997, when participants were 12 to 17 years old. It has interviewed these same individuals every year or two and is still ongoing.
What are the advantages of a panel?
A panel study follows the same people over time and allows researchers to track changes in their lives. Because participants report on their relationships and living situations every year or two, this data is likely more accurate than asking people in their late 30s or early 40s to remember every relationship they have had throughout their lives.
To better understand cohabitation in the U.S., we analyzed data from a Bureau of Labor Statistics study known as the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997, or NLSY97. This study has followed the same people since 1997 – when they were 12 to 17 years old – and asks about topics including their romantic partners, living arrangements and marital status. The latest round of surveys was conducted in 2023, when participants were 38 to 43 years old.
This Pew Research Center analysis looks at cohabitation – that is, living with an unmarried partner – among adults who were ages 38 to 43 in 2023.
Why did we do this?
Pew Research Center does research to help the public, the media and decision-makers understand important topics. This analysis is part of our ongoing effort to study families and relationships in the U.S.
How did we do this?
This analysis includes findings from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 Cohort (NLYS97), a nationally representative panel study of people born between 1980 and 1984 who were living in the United States in 1997. The NLSY97 is fielded by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The microdata files used for this analysis come from the National Longitudinal Survey Investigator.
We use the NLSY97 because it collects detailed information about respondents’ marriages and partners they have lived with over time. At each interview, conducted every year or two, respondents report the months they started and ended their cohabitations. Because these details are collected regularly throughout adulthood, they are likely to be more accurate than asking people to remember all their past unmarried partnerships when they are in their late 30s or early 40s.
Analyses are limited to adults who responded in 2023, the most recent wave. Interviews were conducted from September 2023 to September 2024. For respondents surveyed in 2023, we use information available through their interview month. For those surveyed in 2024, we use information available through December 2023.
Comparisons are tested for statistical significance using 2023 survey weights. These tests for statistical significance are conducted using 95% confidence intervals.
About three-quarters (77%) of adults ages 38 to 43 have lived with an unmarried romantic partner at some point in their lives, including 37% who have lived with two or more different people. These figures vary by education. For example, 82% of adults with a high school diploma or less education have lived with an unmarried partner, compared with 70% of those with a bachelor’s degree.
The number of cohabiting partners Americans have lived with varies by education
% of adults ages 38 to 43 in 2023 who have lived with ___ cohabiting partner(s)
Note: Cohabitation refers to living with an unmarried partner. Figures may not add to subtotals due to rounding. Education categories reflect the highest attainment by ages 38 to 43. “Some college” includes those with an associate degree and those who attended college but did not obtain a degree. White and Black adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race. Data for Asian adults and other racial and ethnic groups is included in the total but not shown separately due to small sample size.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort, 1997-2023.
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The number of cohabiting partners Americans have lived with varies by education
% of adults ages 38 to 43 in 2023 who have lived with ___ cohabiting partner(s)
Note: Cohabitation refers to living with an unmarried partner. Figures may not add to subtotals due to rounding. Education categories reflect the highest attainment by ages 38 to 43. “Some college” includes those with an associate degree and those who attended college but did not obtain a degree. White and Black adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race. Data for Asian adults and other racial and ethnic groups is included in the total but not shown separately due to small sample size.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort, 1997-2023.
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When it comes to the number of romantic partners Americans have lived with, adults with at least a bachelor’s degree are the most likely to have lived with only one: 46% say this, compared with 38% of those with some college education and 35% of those with a high school diploma or less. (Throughout this analysis, education categories refer to the highest level completed by ages 38 to 43, not necessarily the person’s level of education when they lived with a partner.)
Differences by race and ethnicity are smaller. White adults (79%) are more likely than Hispanic (74%) and Black (71%) adults to have ever lived with an unmarried romantic partner. The sample of Asian respondents is not large enough to analyze separately.
There are also large educational differences in the age at which Americans first live with an unmarried partner. Overall, 27% of those who are ages 38 to 43 and have ever lived with a partner first did so before age 20.
Living with an unmarried partner before age 20 is more common for people with a high school diploma or less education
Among adults ages 38 to 43 in 2023 who have ever cohabited, % who were ___ at first cohabitation
Note: Cohabitation refers to living with an unmarried partner. Education categories reflect the highest attainment by ages 38 to 43. “Some college” includes those with an associate degree and those who attended college but did not obtain a degree. White and Black adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race. Data for Asian adults and other racial and ethnic groups is included in the total but not shown separately due to small sample size.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort, 1997-2023.
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Living with an unmarried partner before age 20 is more common for people with a high school diploma or less education
Among adults ages 38 to 43 in 2023 who have ever cohabited, % who were ___ at first cohabitation
Note: Cohabitation refers to living with an unmarried partner. Education categories reflect the highest attainment by ages 38 to 43. “Some college” includes those with an associate degree and those who attended college but did not obtain a degree. White and Black adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race. Data for Asian adults and other racial and ethnic groups is included in the total but not shown separately due to small sample size.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort, 1997-2023.
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But that share is 40% among those with a high school diploma or less education, compared with 12% of those with a bachelor’s degree or more. Adults with at least a bachelor’s degree, in turn, are more likely than other groups to say they began cohabiting in their late 20s (29%) or in their 30s or later (19%).
Differences by race and ethnicity are more modest. White (28%) and Hispanic (32%) adults are somewhat more likely than Black adults (23%) to have cohabited before age 20.
Two-thirds of adults who are ages 38 to 43 and have lived with an unmarried partner have gone on to marry someone they cohabited with. Most of the people in this group (70%) married the first partner they lived with, while another 22% married the second.
Americans differ by education, race and ethnicity when it comes to marrying a cohabiting partner
Among adults ages 38 to 43 in 2023 who have ever cohabited, % who …
Note: Cohabitation refers to living with an unmarried partner. Education categories reflect the highest attainment by ages 38 to 43. “Some college” includes those with an associate degree and those who attended college but did not obtain a degree. White and Black adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race. Data for Asian adults and other racial and ethnic groups is included in the total but not shown separately due to small sample size.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort, 1997-2023.
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Americans differ by education, race and ethnicity when it comes to marrying a cohabiting partner
Among adults ages 38 to 43 in 2023 who have ever cohabited, % who …
Note: Cohabitation refers to living with an unmarried partner. Education categories reflect the highest attainment by ages 38 to 43. “Some college” includes those with an associate degree and those who attended college but did not obtain a degree. White and Black adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race. Data for Asian adults and other racial and ethnic groups is included in the total but not shown separately due to small sample size.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort, 1997-2023.
PEW RESEARCH CENTER
Cohabitation and marriage patterns again differ widely by education, race and ethnicity. For example, among adults who have ever cohabited, 77% of those with at least a bachelor’s degree married a partner they lived with, compared with 66% of those with some college education and 59% of those with a high school diploma or less. White adults are the most likely to have married a partner they lived with (73%), followed by Hispanic adults (59%) and Black adults (46%).
Meanwhile, 28% of those who have ever cohabited have not married. And another 5% married someone they never cohabited with. This could include people who cohabited with one partner and then married a different partner they hadn’t lived with. It could also include those who cohabited for the first time after a separation or divorce from a spouse they didn’t live with before marriage.
The typical cohabiting relationship lasts 18 months before ending in marriage or a breakup. This figure is a median and includes cohabiting relationships that are ongoing as of the survey date.
How did we calculate this median?
This analysis refers to the median length of all cohabiting relationships, treating each cohabiting relationship as its own data point. It is based on cohabitations that have ended in marriage or a breakup and those that are still ongoing as of the most recent survey.
To find the median, we used a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis to determine the point at which 50% of cohabiting relationships have ended, either in marriage or a breakup. For Americans ages 38 to 43 in 2023, this was at 18 months.
Some cohabiting relationships last years. For instance, 26% of adults who are ages 38 to 43 and have ever cohabited report at least one cohabiting relationship that lasted five years or longer. That includes 8% who had a cohabiting relationship that lasted 10 years or longer.
Longer-term cohabitations are more common among people with less education
Among adults ages 38 to 43 in 2023 who have ever cohabited, % who had a cohabiting relationship that lasted for …
Note: Cohabitation refers to living with an unmarried partner. Figures may not add to subtotals due to rounding. Education categories reflect the highest attainment by ages 38 to 43. “Some college” includes those with an associate degree and those who attended college but did not obtain a degree. White and Black adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race. Data for Asian adults and other racial and ethnic groups is included in the total but not shown separately due to small sample size.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort, 1997-2023.
PEW RESEARCH CENTER
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Longer-term cohabitations are more common among people with less education
Among adults ages 38 to 43 in 2023 who have ever cohabited, % who had a cohabiting relationship that lasted for …
Note: Cohabitation refers to living with an unmarried partner. Figures may not add to subtotals due to rounding. Education categories reflect the highest attainment by ages 38 to 43. “Some college” includes those with an associate degree and those who attended college but did not obtain a degree. White and Black adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race. Data for Asian adults and other racial and ethnic groups is included in the total but not shown separately due to small sample size.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort, 1997-2023.
PEW RESEARCH CENTER
Longer-term cohabitations are more common among adults with less education. Roughly a third (34%) of those with a high school diploma or less have lived with a partner for at least five years. The same is true for 26% of adults with some college education and 17% of those with a bachelor’s degree.
When it comes to race and ethnicity, Hispanic adults (35%) are more likely than White (24%) and Black (26%) adults to have cohabited with an unmarried romantic partner for at least five years.
